MICHAEL JAMIESON turned up at Parkhead last night and found he wasn’t the only one adept at jumping in at the deep end.

The Olympic silver medalist was invited to make the half-time draw after Celtic fans cheered the swimmer to the rafters on the big screen before the recent qualifier against Helsinki.

Jamieson has won his sporting fame through his skill in the breaststroke, and last night Neil Lennon was reaching out and cooling fevered brows after his players proved they could handle the hottest atmosphere in world club football.

Celtic may not have won their Champions League opener against Benfica in Group G, but they certainly didn’t lose as his players proved capable of living up to the manager’s pre-match prediction of not becoming whipping boys at this level.

In truth, they rode their luck on occasions against a slick Portuguese outfit who had to weather an almighty burst of pressure in the first half as the Hoops, inspired by skipper Scott Brown, went all out for the win.

Yes, they didn’t do enough at times to trouble visiting keeper Artur and a couple of the players – we’re talking about you, Emilio Izaguirre – still have much to do to convince they have what it takes at this level.

But shorn of a handful of first-team regulars through injury, especially Georgios Samaras, and with Brown the only member of the available squad boasting experience of the group stages, this was still a positive night for the Hoops and Scottish football.

First, however, there was a poignant rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone in memory of the victims of the Hillsborough Disaster. It met with such approval, even the group of Benfica squad men seated in the main stand stood and nodded their heads in acknowledgement of the tribute.

Around them, flashbulbs from 10,000 mobile phones popped like stars from a cloudless sky that had drifted down to see what all the noise was about.

Pardon the expression Celtic fans, but as the opening bars of Zadok the Priest pitched the decibel levels as high as the expectations of supporters, your place was a bear pit, with Benfica cast in the role of victims to be mauled.

Celtic, led marvellously by attack dog Brown, set a ferocious early tempo in a formation Lennon clearly hoped would prove expansive, while also guarding against the speed and pace of the Portuguese on the counter attack.

You would never have known the lack of experience at this level of Lennon’s players as they shook off the awful lethargy of St Johnstone four days previously – lifted, it must be said, by their brilliant home support.

And still, for all their possession and crisp, accurate passing, the Hoops were unable to penetrate. Of course, Benfica have one of European football’s greatest pedigrees and in the last three years alone have qualified for the quarter-finals of this tournament or the Europa League.

Slowly but surely they began to find a foothold in the game and as the first half progressed they were suddenly finding gaps and holes, with that little Argentine magician Pablo Aimar increasingly influential.

Fraser Forster batted away an Eduardo Salvio shot as the interval approached following a slip from Izaguirre, who started well but faded badly, with the linesman’s flag for offside an additional comfort.

The pattern continued into the second half with Benfica looking ever more assured in possession and carving out the game’s best chances as Forster was alert to bat away a front-post header from Ezequiel Garay after a goalbound effort from Nicolas Gaitan was blocked.

Lennon was certainly brave, changing his formation to 4-4-2 with a quarter of the game still remaining as Gary Hooper came off the bench to partner Miku. But a couple of set-piece skirmishes aside and an audacious attempt from 50 yards by Kris Commons, Artur’s gloves were barely muddied.

The final whistle was greeted with sighs of relief, a few howls of anguish, and applause that better nights might still lie ahead in this competition.

Jamieson clutched his silver medal to his chest as he took the acclaim of his people during the interval. It’s still shining, just like his team’s chances of going further in Europe.